Earlier, 15-year-old Bihar lad Kumar Gaurav did himself and country proud, snatching the first Norm of the event. Holding International Master Ramnath Bhuvanesh to a draw, Kumar Gaurav made his maiden International Master Norm scoring 6.0 points from nine rounds.

Going into the final round, three players are holding Norm chances viz., Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman (GM Norm), Rathanvel V S and Erigaisi Arjun (both IM Norm). All three need to win their final round game to achieve the subject Norm. Vijayalakshmi faces GM Mozharov Mikhail of Russia and Rathanvel V S takes on GM Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam, while Erigaisi Arjun squares off against fellow Indian International Master N R Visakh.

In a day of twin upsets, Vijayalakshmi scored over GM Demchenko Anton of Russia while International Master Ramanathan Balasubramaniam defeated GM Czebe Attila of Hungary. The exciting final round is scheduled for tomorrow, with cash prizes worth Rs.1100000 (Rupees Eleven Lakhs only) waiting to be won.

Ukraine Grandmaster Solodovnichenko Yuri (7.0) led the strong pack after the eighth round of the 8th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess tournament 2016 for Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam trophy, held at Nehru Stadium, Chennai here today.

Indian GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (6.5) improved is chances scoring over GM Sivuk Vitaly of Ukraine, while International Maser S Vijayalakshmi (6.0) fought hard, snatching a draw against defending champion GM Ivan Popov of Russia. She now shares the fifth spot with eight other players.

One point behind the leader. defending Champion Popov Ivan faces an uphill task of catching up, as the race for the title of Chennai Open 2016 Champion hots up. In key penultimate rounds pairings, Russian Mozharov faces Solodovnichenko of Ukraine, while Deepan Chakkravarthy squares off against Belous Vladimir of Russia.

Ukraine Grandmaster Solodovnichenko Yuri (6.0) shared the lead with three other GMs after the seventh round of the 8th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess tournament 2016 for Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam trophy, held at Nehru Stadium, Chennai here today.

Indian duo Deepan Chakkravarthy and Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman (5.5) kept themselves in hunt for major prizes, staying half a point behind the leaders. Also at 5.5 points was defending champion GM Ivan Popov who kept himself in range holding Ernst Sipke of The Netherlands in the top board.

Three more rounds remain in this 214 player ten round Swiss tournament.

Ukraine Grandmaster Solodovnichenko Yuri, 4.5 points, shared the lead with four more players after the fifth round of the 8th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess tournament 2016 for Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam trophy, held at Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Nehru Stadium, Chennai here today. Keeping Yuri company on top at 4.5 points were GMs Bernadskiy Vitaliy (Ukr), Belous Vladimir, Mozharov Mikhail (both Russia) & young star Kumar Gaurav of India.

Earlier, Yuri found his match fellow Ukraine GM Bernadskiy Vitaliy, as they drew an exciting Caro Kann game that lasted 40 moves. But the neews makers of the day were 15-year-old Bihar boy Kumar Gaurav and Maharashtra FM, Akash Thakur, respectively.

Veteran Ukraine GM Neverov got himself punished for some over ambitious play against Indian youngster Kumar Gaurav. The closed Sicilian game saw Kumar in an attacking mood and Neverov loosened the grip swapping his rook and three pawns for two pieces. It was found wanting as equation was loaded too much against the Ukraine Grandmaster who gave up on 34th turn. The win propels the Bihar boy to joint lead position along with four GMs.

Multiple IM Norm holder Akash Thakur put it across GM Gabrielian Artur of Russia in a Ruy Lopez exchange variation game, where the Indian snatched the advantage with some deft middle game moves. Moving into a rook and minor piece ending to restore parity, the Russian undermined the center passer and lost the game in 32 moves.

Chennai based Ram S Krishnan (BSNL) held top seed Grandmaster Boris Grachev of Russia to a draw in the second round of the 8th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess tournament 2016 for Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam trophy, held at Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Nehru Stadium, Chennai here today. In an interesting English game that lasted 29 moves, Ram S Krishnan surprised the Russian Grandmaster with his King march to the queenside. An effective blockade fetched the Indian a comfortable draw.

Seeds led by Grandmaster Boris Grachev (Russia), were through to comfortable wins in the 8th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess tournament 2016 for Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam trophy at Nehru Stadium, Chennai here today.

Grachev put it across Delhi based veteran V S Negi, while Delhi Open Champion Popov was stretched by Chennai boy G B Harshavardhan before he scored the full point. In the upset of the day, Soham Datar held Grandmaster Vladimir Belous of Russia to a draw.

Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by India’s first International Master and Arjuna Awardee Manuel Aaron, who extolled the growth of chess in India during the last decade and made the symbolic first move inaugurating the event.

Shri D V Sundar, Vice President, FIDE, during his speech added that the Grandmaster and International Master count in India has grown multifold since 2005. He further highlighted India holding the highest number of registered players with FIDE (World Chess Federation). International Arbiter and Tournament Director R Anantharam proposed the vote of thanks.